Gauge for doughnut machines



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May l5, 1951 Y E. M. LYCKE 2,553,264

GAUGE FOR DoUGx-mu'r MACHINES Filed Feb. e, 1948 liE lll

.ATTORNEYS Patented May 15, 1951 GAUGE FOR DOUGHNUT NIACHINES Engward M. Lycke, Minneapolis, Minn., assigner to `Pillsbury Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., a

corporation of Delaware Application February 6, 1948, Serial No. 6,703

l Claim.

My invention relates to doughnut machines and to the cutters thereof and particularly to a cutter having a fixed head with an annular blade movable downwardly past the head when moving into cutting position. An object of the invention resides in providing a gage for use in connection with the cutter for setting the same to cause the blade to extend past the head a predetermined distance when in its extreme cut off position.

Another object of the invention resides in providing the gage with a vertically extending guide and a movable engaging member guided for moi/'ement therein together with movement limiting meansl for limiting the movement of the engaging member to a position away from the head a distance equal to the projection of the blade beyond the head when the blade is in its extreme cut of position.

An object of the invention resides in mounting a .sleeve for longitudinal movement in said guide and vin adjustably supporting said engaging member for movement in the sleeve.

Another object of the invention resides in providing motion limiting means between said sleeve and guide lfor allowing said sleeve to move a distance equal to the projection of the cutting edge of the cutter blade beyond the cutter head when the blade is in cut oif position.

Another object of the invention resides in providing resilient means for urging the sleeve into its position corresponding with .the out Aorf position of the cutter blade.

A still further object of the invention resides in providing a wheel encircling said sleeve and bearing on one side against said engaging member and in 4further providing said guide with a rim having a notch therein and said wheel with a lug adapted to ride on said rim to retain said engaging member in its uppermost position or to enter said notch and hold said engaging member in its lowermost position.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement ,of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/or described.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a plan view-of a portion of a doughnut machine illustrating an embodiment of vmy invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and drawn to a greater scale.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to ,-Fig. 2 showing the parts in altered position.

In the use of doughnut machines employing a vcutter having a iised head with an annular cutting blade having an edge adapted to be moved into engagement with the head to sever the dough extrusions, considerable difliculty has been encountered in producing proper adjustment of the blade with respect to the head. The instant invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a gage for luse in the setting of the 'blade whereby the blade can be quickly and accurately set so as to function in the desired manner.

Forthe purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the drawings a portion of a doughnut vmachine such as disclosed in the patent to Holmes et al. Patent No. 2,320,037, issued May 25, 1943. Since the instant invention relates particularly to the cutter for the doughnut machine, only as much thereof as illustrates the invention has been shown in the drawings and reliance is had .on said patent for the remaining features of the doughnut machine.

The doughnut machine illustrated includes a cool-:ing kettle It having a way I2 in which a ,suitable heated cooking liquid is progressed 'by vmeans of a motor driven impeller II. Annular dough extrusions are deposited in the Way I2 by means of a cutter indicated in its entirety by the reference number I3 and are caused to cook while being progressed along the way. The doughnuts during cooking are inverted and are finally removed from the machine by means of an ejector It. The cutter I3 and ejector Ill are driven from a transmission contained within a transmission .case l5.

Overlying .the upper edge of the kettle I0 is a top i5 which is secured thereto by means of cap screws I'i screwed into a ange I8 extending inwardly `from the upper edge `of the said kettle. The impeller Il, cutter i3 and the ejector I4 are .all mounted on this top.

The cutter I3 includes a tubular member I9 having a passageway 2l therethrough. `Formed on this member is a collar 2|. This collar is .screwed into a mounting 22 which is attached to legs 23 secured to the upper surface ofthe top I6. Slidably mounted on the tubular member I9 Vis an .annular blade 24 which is formed at its lower :end with an annular cutting edge 25. The lmounting 22 serves to support a Clough receptacle .2t in which the raw dough is placed and which is in .communication with the passageway 21 Within the tubular member I9. vExtending across Asaid tubular member near its upper .end is a vbridge 23. A stem :29 `is secured to this bridge suitable mechanism within said case.

Ition hole 52 is cut into the top i6.

S and projects downwardly therefrom and is located centrally with respect to said tubular member. The lower end of the said stem is formed with a reduced portion 3l which is threaded to receive a nut 32. Mounted on the reduced portion 3i of the stem 29 is a cutter head 33 which is in the form of a disc and which cooperates with the cutting edge of the blade 24. The lower end of the cutter I3 extends through an opening 28 in the top i6 so that the dough extrusions may be deposited into the cooking liquid in the Way I2. The receptacle 26 is placed under pressure by compressed air and when the blade 25 is raised in an amount sufficient to clear the said head as shown in Fig. 2, dough is extruded from between the upper surface of said head and the cutting edge 25. When the blade 2d is lowered to the position shown in Fig. 3, the extruded part of the doug-h is cut oi and is dicharged into the cooking liquid flowing along the way I2 in the kettle IE). It has been found that the cutting edge 25 when `in its cut off position must extend somewhat below the head 33 in order to effect positive severance of the extruded dough formation from the cutter.

The cutter I3 is driven in the following manner.

A shaft 5d is connected by means of a coupling V35 to another shaft disposed within the transmission case I5 and oscillated back and forth by engage within a groove 52 formed in a collar 43 disposed at the upper end of said blade. When the fork 3l is reciprccated by means of the shaft 34, blade 2d is caused to raise andilower from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3

:and viceversa to cause the formation of the Adjoining the boss 38 is a This sleeve is secured to the shaft 34 dough extrusions. sleeve 5.

vby means of set screws 65. An arm 46 has a hub 4l' formed on the same which is also rotatably mounted on the shaft 35. This hub extends into the sleeve and may be adjustably clamped thereto by means of a number of set screws 48 which are threaded into saidsleeve and which engage said hub. The arm 46 is constructed :'with a guide 86 in which is slidably mounted a vbolt 5I.

This bolt is adapted to engage a portion 58 on the fork 3l and when in engagement therewith forms a drive for the said fork.

For the purpose of inspecting the dough eX- trusions discharged from the cutter I3 an inspec- This inspection hole is adapted `to be closed by means of a cover 53 which is pivoted to the top I6 `by means 'of one of the cap screws Il used for holding the sleeve is itself formed with a bore 62 in which is slidably mounted a plunger 63. The bore 62 of the sleeve 6I is reduced in diameter at itslower The shaft Said fork includes arms 39 which straddle 5.

4 end as indicated at 64 while the lower end 65 of the plunger 63 is likewise reduced to slide within the bore 64. By means of this construction a shoulder 66 is formed on the plunger 63 while a similar shoulder 5l is formed within the sleeve 6I A compression coil spring 68 is disposed in the space between the bore 62 and the reduced end of plunger 63 and is seated against the two shoulders 66 and 6l. Said spring serves to move the plunger 63 upwardly.

Attached to the lower end 65 of the plunger 63 is an arm 69 which is adapted to underlie the head 33 of cutter I3 as shown in Fig. 2. The

upper end of the sleeve 6I is formed with a head 'I I. This head is somewhat larger than the said sleeve and provides a shoulder 'I2 which is spaced from a rim 'I3 formed on the upper end of the guide 58. Between this shoulder and the said rim is disposed a thumb wheel 'I4 which is rotatable on the said sleeve. Wheel 'I4 has a lug 'I5 formed on the underside of the same which is adapted to ride upon the upper edge of rim 'I3 or to enter a notch 'I6 in the edge of said rim 13.

The plunger 53 is held from rotation relative to the guide 58 by means of the following construction. Formed in the lowermost portion of the sleeve 6I is a key way TI. A pin 'I8 extending through the guide 58 engages the key way 'I1 and restrains rotation of the sleeve 6I. Formed in the head 'Il of said sleeve is another key way '19. A pin 86 extends through this key way and is driven in to the upper end of the plunger 63 and holds the plunger from rotation with respect to the sleeve. In this manner the arm 69 is held from rotation with respect to the bar 51. The plunger 63 may be adjustably supported within the sleeve 6l by means of a thumb screw 8| which is threaded into the head 'II of said sleeve and which is adapted to engage the enlarged portion of said plunger,

Relative motion is procured between the guide v58 and the sleeve 6I by means of a krinkle spring 82 which is disposed between the lower end of the guide 58 and a collar 83 secured to the lowermost end of the sleeve 6I by means of a set screw 84.

The gage 55 is held attached to the doughnut machine as best shown in Fig. l. For this purpose a button 85 is employed which is attached to the underside cf the bar 51; VThis button has a flange 86 which is adapted to underlie the under surface of the top i6, and to hook under the same as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. A pin 8i secured to the guide 58 extends outwardly therefrom and is adapted to engage the edge 55 of the top I6 formed by the hole 52. When the device is mounted as shown in Fig. l, the guide 58 engages the edge 54 of top I6 while the pin 81 is disposed in proximity to the -edge 55 of said top. This restrains lateral movement. of the gage. Upward movement of the gage 1s restrained by means of the flange 86, on button 35.

. The use of the invention is as follows: When 1t 1s desired to adjust the position of the blade 24 of the cutter, the bolt 5I is brought into engagement with the part 5G of the fork 3l and the transmission operated until the cutter blade 24 is at its lowermost or cut off position. The transmission is then arrested and set screws 48 loosened. rlhe bladeV 24 is thereafter elevated above the head 63 as shown in Fig. 2. Cover 53 may then be swung aside to clear opening 52. Gage 56 is next applied to the top I6. This is accomplished as follows. Lug 'I5 is withdrawn from notch I6 by vpulling upwardly on the wheel 'I4 and caused to ride on the rim 13 by giving said wheel partial rotation. The screw 8| is next loosened and the plunger 63 lowered so that the arm 69 will be well below the lower edge of the head 33 of cutter I3 after which screw 8l is tightened. The gage is then held in a position rotated counter clock-wise from its position shown in Fig. 1 so that the ilange 86 on button 85 lies inwardly of the outer edge of the top I6, and then inserted in the hole 52. Bar 5l is caused to rest upon the top i8 and the gage slid inwardly until the guide 58 engages the edge 60 of the top I6. The bar 5'! is then rotated in a clock-wise direction and until the flange 66 of button 95 becomes lodged beneath the under surface of the top I6. After the gage is in position the screw 8l is released and spring 68 will urge the arm 69 into engage ment with the head 33 as shown in Fig. 2. The plunger 63 is then locked in position with respect to the sleeve 6| by tightening the screw 8|. After the same has been tightened, wheel 14 is rotated until the lug 'i5 registers with the notch 16. Spring 82 then acts on the collar 83 and moves the sleeve 6| downwardly. The notch 'I6 and lug l5 are so proportioned that the downward movement of the said sleeve 6| is just equal to the distance that the cutting edge is desired to project below the head 33. Blade 24 is next moved downwardly by rotating arm 45 with respect to the sleeve 44 until the cutting edge 25 of the same engages the arm 69 as shown in Fig. 3. Set screws 48 are then tightened and the cutter is ready to operate. The gage is then removed by loosening screw 8|, depressing arm 69 and withdrawing the gage in the reverse manner from which it was applied.

The advantages of the invention are manifest. With my invention the movable blade of a doughnut machine cutter can be accurately set so as to procure the proper size and shape of the dough extrusions. By controlling the distance that the cutter blade projects below the head, sulcient override can be procured to secure positive severance of the dough eXtrusions. At the same time the override is not so great as to undesirably lower the upper limit of the cutter blade and thus produce ill-shapen dough extrusions. The device is easily and quickly applied and permits of rapidly adjusting the cutter blade. Adjustment of the gage can be procured to compensate for variations in the distance of the cutter head below the surface of the kettle top.

Changes in the specic form of my invention, as herein described, may beV made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A gage for adjusting the position of the blade of a doughnut machine cutter with respect to the cutter head, said gage comprising a guide, a sleeve slidable in said guide, a plunger slidable in said sleeve, means for adjustably holding said plunger in said sleeve, an arm on said plunger adapted to engage said cutter head or said blade, means for locking said plunger with respect to said sleeve, a wheel rotatable on said sleeve, means restraining said wheel against axial movement in one direction on the sleeve, a lug on said wheel adapted t0 engage said guide, a notch formed in said guide and adapted to receive said lug and to limit relative axial movement between said sleeve and guide in a direction opposite said one direction and resilient means urging movement of said sleeve in said opposite direction to bring said lug into said notch.

ENGWARD M. LYCKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 459,107 Geddes Sept. 8, 1891 597,335 Spalding Jan. 11, 1898 1,784,093 Devueg 1 Dec. 9, 1930 2,146,370 Dronsfeld Feb. 7, 1939 2,213,088 Hahn Aug. 27, 1940 2,244,854 Sandn June 10, 1941 2,246,758 Roth June 24, 1941 2,335,513 Hewitt Nov. 30, 1943 2,401,085 LaValley May 28, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 554,316 Great Britain June 29, 1943 

